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SALT LAKE CITY — Federal spending and the national debt have long been a key issue for Republicans, but several Democrats are joining with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, to push a bipartisan bill to nudge the federal government toward fiscal responsibility.
The moderate duo has worked together to pass legislation in the past — most recently to codify a Senate dress code — and on Thursday introduced the Fiscal Stability Act of 2023 with the goal of addressing the national debt. The bill would convene a bipartisan, bicameral commission of lawmakers and outside experts to create a report on measures to bring the public debt to GDP ratio under 100%.
That ratio compares the amount of government debt to the total market value of the nation's economy in a given year. The seasonally adjusted debt to GDP ratio was nearly 120% through the second quarter of 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
"It is immoral and unacceptable for my generation to keep adding to the national debt, expecting our grandchildren to foot the bill for our benefits for the rest of their lives," Romney said. "As a country, we must get serious about the national debt, which is why Sen. Manchin and I are coming together to propose a new fiscal commission tasked with coming up with legislative solutions to improve the federal government's fiscal health and get a handle on the debt before it's too late."
Manchin said the nation's growing debt hurts the economy and national security.
"Our fiscal house is not in order and it is past time we get serious about addressing the unsustainable path our national debt is on," he said. "If we cannot come together to rein in this looming crisis, we will be failing the American people and harming the well-being of our future generations."
The bill wouldn't eliminate the national debt or balance the budget right away, and other Republicans have warned that it will take an incremental approach to deal with the debt. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, said in August that lawmakers will have to "chip away" at the deficit, explaining his vote in May to raise the debt ceiling while capping some federal spending over the next two years.
The commission would be made up of 16 members: three lawmakers from each party in each chamber of Congress would make up the 12 voting members in addition to four non-voting outside experts. Party leaders in their respective chambers — the Speaker of the House, House minority leader, Senate majority leader and Senate minority leader — would each appoint four members to the commission: three lawmakers from their chamber and one outside expert.
The bill would task the fiscal commission for making recommendations on legislation to stabilize the debt to GDP ratio within the next 15 years and make federal trust funds more solvent over a 75-year period.
Proposed legislation and reports would need to be approved by a majority of the 12 voting members, including at least three members from each party.
Once the commission approves proposed legislative language, its bills would be expedited through the legislative process in both chambers.
The commission would have until May 1, 2025, to take an initial vote on its report and proposals.
The Fiscal Stability Act is cosponsored by Sens. Todd Young, R-Indiana; Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming; John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Mark Warner, D-Virginia; Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina; and Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire.
It is a companion bill to the Fiscal Commission Act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Bill Huizenga, R-Michigan, and Scott Peters, D-California.
